LoL: JD Gaming knocks out EDward Gaming and advances to the Demacia Cup semifinals

After a tough group stage for JD Gaming and an undefeated run for EDward Gaming, JDG knocked out their opponents in the Demacia Cup quarterfinals on Saturday, December 27, advancing to the semifinals where they will face the winner of the BO between Anyone’s Legend and LGD Gaming.

JDG dominated all four games— even in the first one they lost, they were over 5,700 gold ahead, and Hu "Leave" Hong-Chao eventually scaled to save his team. In the other three games, the MVP went to JDG’s new Taiwanese midlaner, Tsai "HongQ" Ming-Hong, who shone on Viktor, Aurelion Sol, and Anivia.

Up until this BO, EDG were still undefeated in this Demacia Cup. The team kept almost the same roster fielded during the 2025 Summer Split, where they had a strong regular season before pushing JDG to five games and eventually falling short, not enough to reach the Regional Finals.

Jungler Peng "Xiaohao" Hao was named MVP in four games, while Wang "Parukia" Ping-Yang, one of the brightest talents of the new Chinese generation in the support role, was retained and continues to gain experience while the return of Hu "Leave" Hong-Chao has already had a positive impact. EDG bow out in the quarterfinals but went through a dense preseason to prepare for the year ahead.

On their side, JDG are showing clear signs of improvement compared to last year. The Yu "JunJia" Chun-Chia–HongQ duo continues to work just as it did with CTBC Flying Oyster, Xu "Xiaoxu" Xing-Zu remains a reliable presence in the toplane, and the botlane is steadily finding its rhythm with Chen "GALA" Wei and Zhao "Vampire" Zhe-Can.